Tamil Ven Pongal - Peasant but Divine :)
Pongal is a harvest festival celebrated in Tamil Nadu and dedicated to the Sun God. Intrinsically pagan, it is a four day festival that marks the celebration of everything related to agriculture. The day celebrating the harvest itself is celebrated throughout the country but the other days are unique to the Tamils. The word ‘pongal’ means boiling over and many of the offerings of this festival involve just that - from milk to new rice.
We typically make sweet and savory offerings to our Gods and on this day, it is typically two different rice dishes, akin to sweet and savory puddings/porridge - chakkarai pongal (jaggery-rice pudding) and ven pongal (white pongal or rice-lentil porridge. The savory version, I love!
Rice and Sprouted Mung Bean Crumpets
Anyway, out of hopelessness is borne love, nay?! One of those creations was this crumpet. To be fair, it started out as an yeasted pancake experiment that I had thought of the night before but, restless as I am and thinking on the spur that a crumpet would be nicer, I decided to go with that. So, this small bite came together as gluten free crumpets made with rice and sprouted mung bean flour, smeared with hummus and topped with lamb Proscuitto (from my butcher) and fresh mint. Mind blowingly good!
It is surprisingly light for being a bean heavy dish and for that protein packed reason, leaves you feeling rather satisfied while that and the rice gives you a spurt of energy to face the morning with something approaching enthusiasm. Hey! It is Monday after all! As to the flavors, lamb and hummus behave like couple souls while the mint looks upon the lot with a doting sprightliness that only makes you feel rather fond of the whole dish and envelops you in a cheery outlook!
The Little-Big Matter of Food Waste
I want to talk about Food Waste. You see it falls within a subject that is very close to me - global sustainability. This is a post that I have been debating for a while on phraseology. Because, I really don't want to get preachy or gratingly hipster-y on you. Yet, it is an important topic and should be given due gravity. Especially because, it is also one those incredibly, slip-through-the-cracks variety of unsustainability that each of us, however, good we are, always have room to be better about.
I am going to give it a go by telling you my experience and how I am still shocked at how much I still waste. And, I would love to hear from you, about your perspective and we can trade notes! What say?
And, I have recipe for a repurposing leftover takeaway brown rice - vegan and gluten free Enchiladas, beet infused stuffed collard greens in tomato sauce, that are not just good for you, it makes you feel good too, from the heart right to the belly!
Cauliflower Fried Rice
No, this is not another recipe for the new trend of crushing cauliflower to make rice because of Paleo or some grain free diet. This is really rice with cauliflower.
This idea was borne out of a nagging conscience. I am as you know deeply involved in making conscious eating choices. After all that is the entire premise of NOURISHED and FOODLY. However, I am not a saint. I do waste food and throw away leftovers sometimes because they have been languishing at the back of the fridge for far too long and because I had a new idea for a recipe that required a completely different set of ingredients. Yes, I am not perfect.
Nevertheless, in a effort to govern myself, I decided that I would not let anything go to waste, ok, really, atleast reduce my waste by half. I would make something with the leftovers and what else was available in my pantry and fridge....
